Process of making eyeglass-pads.



W. S. SEARLES.

PROCESS OF MAKING EYEGLASS PADS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 5. 1914,

1,200,992. Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

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WITNESSES 16m m w zw/ ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

WA YNE S. SEARLES, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO NEW JERSEY OPTICALI 00., OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS OF MAKING EYEGLASS-PADS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WAYNES. SnARLEs, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, county of Essex,State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Processes of Making Eyeglass-Pads, of which the following 1s aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements 1n eyeglass pads and the process ofmaking the same in which the pad or portion thereof which is adapted torest against the nose of the wearer is connected directly andimmediately to a metallic part of the nose grip ping structure withoutthe intervention of rivets.

In the construction of the nose gripping members of eyeglasses it isquite general to line or cover either the whole of the nose grippingportions or certainportions thereof with a material such as celluloid.Here tofore it has been the practice to secure such covering or liningto a metallic part of the nose gripping member by means of rivets whichextend through the lining or covering material. The ends of these rivetsprojecting through such lining or coverin material interrupt the surfacethereof an constitute an objectionable feature of construction.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a constructionwherein and whereby the lining or covering material is secured to themetallic nose gripping member or to some portion thereof without theemployment or intervention of rivets.

In the construction of nose pads or gripping members embodying myinvention I employ a lining or covering material such as celluloid whichmay be rendered plastic and somewhat mobile by the application of heat.When the lining or covering material is in such plastic condition it iscombined with the metallic portion of the part of the nose grippingmember to which it is to be applied by pressing said lining or coveringand such metallic portion together and cans ing the same to become sointerlocked and connected that they are held securely and firmlytogether without the presence of rivets. It will be apparent that suchinterlocking and such connection may be effected between pads andmetallicparts of different Specification of Letters Patent. Applicationfiled September 5, 1914. Serial N o. 860,492.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

forms and shape. however, underlying the idea of my invent1on is thesame. One essential requirement, however, is that the lining or coveringmaterial shall be of a character which when heat is applied thereto isrendered sufliciently plastic to enable it to flow around and conform tothe configuration of the surface of the metallic part of the mountingagainst which it is pressed or forced and which when cooled becomessufliciently hard and rigid to hold fast to such metallic part. Myinvention comprehends not only an improvement in the process by whichthe lining or covering is secured to the metallic part of the mountingbut it also comprehends the improved construction of pad after the samehas been completed.

In order that my invention may be more clearly understood andcomprehended reference should be had to the accompanying drawing inwhich I have illustrated several forms of convenient embodiments of thesame. It must be understood, however, that changes in the details ofconstruction and manufacture may be made within the scope of the claimswithout departing from my said invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view indicating theprocess of manufacture and showing in section the parts to be joined andsecured together and also showing complement-a1 members of a mold; Flg.2 1s a transverse sectlonal view The general principle,

of a pad and its shank or post secured thereto in accordance with myinvention; Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 2;Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the shank or standard which is shown inFigs.

. 1, 2 and 3; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1

showing a modified construction of shank or post; Fig. 6 isa transversesectional view showing the pad and shank illustrated 'in Fig. 5 afterhaving been connected and joined together; Fig. 7 is a top plan View ofthe construction shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is aperspective view of theshank shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7; Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional viewshowing a modified construction of the connection between the pad andthe shank or post, including the molds em ployed in the manufacture ofthe same; Fig. 10 is a transverse sectional view of the pad and itsshank or post shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. '11 is a top plan view of the construction shown in FigalO; andFig. 12 1s a perspective view of the shank or post employed in Figs. 9,10 and 11.

It will be understood that the figures ofthe drawing show the partsillustrated enlarged in order that their construction may be moreclearly seen. Attention is also called to the fact that in the drawingsthe form of pad which is illustrated is one which a is adapted to besecured to some part of the "metallicnose gripping member, usually theupper end thereof, such pad when so con nected being adapted to grip theupper por-;

tion of the nose at the points opposite the inner corners of the eyes ofthe wearer, but as before indicated my invention may be employed in themanufacture of nose gripping members in which the whole inner surface islined or covered with a material of the char acter above referred to. Inthe drawings, 1 and 2 designate the cooperating or coacting members of amold. These members 1 and 2 are provided with recesses'3 and 4 which arecomplementary to each other and together constitute a space of the shapewhich it is desired the pad shall be. When the celluloid or some othermaterial which may be fused or rendered plastic by the application ofheat thereto is placed in the molds such material is shaped to conformto the space formed by the depressions inserted in the hole 8 and theshank 10 and pad 5 are moved toward each other and pressed together, thematerial of the pad 5 and the projection 7 being in a plastic state theupper end of the projection 7 spreads.

out and fills the annular space 11 so that the shank or post 10 issecurely fastened to the pad'5 by means of the said projection 7 and therim or flange 12 thereof. It should be understood that there should besuflicient material in the projection 7 to completely fill not'only theannular space 11 but the hole 8. It should also be understood that theshape of the hole 8 and'the space 11 may be either circular or polygonalas may be desired. When the parts 5 and 10 have been thus pressedtogether the plates 1 and 2 of the molds are separated sothat the padsmay be removed therefrom.

In Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive I have employed a shank 13 of somewhatdifferent construction from that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive. Insaid Figs. 5 to 8 the shank 13 is provided with an inwardly extendingflange 14 at its lower end by reason of the presence of which the upperor main portion of the 'hole 15 in the shank 13 is of greater diameterthan the opening between the edges of the flange 14. The flange 14 maybe continuous as shown or it may be interrupted at intervals so as toform projections at intervals around the lower end'of the hole 15. Whenthe material of the pad 5 and the projection 7 is in a plastic conditionand the latter, which is somewhat smaller and longer than the projection7, is inserted through the opening between the edges of the flange 14into the hole 15 and the said pad 5 and the shank or stud 13 are pressedtogether the material in the projection 7 spreads out andcompletelyfills the hole 15 in the shank or stud 13 so that the twoparts 5 and 13 are firmly and permanently secured together in the mannerquite clearly illustrated in Fig.

, 6 of the drawings. The plate 1 of the molds in Figs. 1 and 5 isprovided at its upperside with-an opening 16 of a shape to receive theshanks or studs "10 and 13 as is clearly apparent from said figures.

In Figs. 9 to 12 inclusive I have illus trated a third modification ofconstruction embodying my invention in which the shank 17 is providedwith a flange 18 upon its lower end which is adapted to be embedded inthe rear side of the pad 5 while the latter is in a plastic orsemi-fused state due to the application of heat thereto. In theconstructionof the pad shown in these figures, 9 to 12 inclusive, theplastic semi-fused material 5 is placed within the recess in the member2 of the mold while the shank 17 is inserted in a hole 19 formed in themember 1 of the mold with the flange 18 thereof seated upon the bottomof the recess 3 in the said member 1. The members are then movedtogether as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings, the material 5 beingcompressed and the flange 18 being pushed into the plastic or semi-fusedmaterial 5 and the material of the latter caused to flow and form aroundthe outer edges of the said flange and to grip and adhere to the samefirmly so that when the said pad and its shank are removed from themoldsor dies we have a construction such as is illustrated in Fig. 10 inwhich the material 5 of the pad is firmly secured to the flange 18 ofthe shank or post 17.

In the several forms of construction illus trated one essential featureof the process of manufacture is that the material of the pad 5 and theprojection 7 or 7 therefrom shall be of a character such that whenheated it will become plastic or semi-fused so that it will conform tothe surface of the shank or stud against which'it is pressed. Forinstance, in Figs. 1 and 5 the plastic material of pads which areadapted to be secured by means of the shanks to some part of thegripping members of a pair of eyeglasses usually the upper ends of suchmembers, but the principle of my invention is susceptible of applicationto other forms of construction of pad, such, for instance, as those inwhich the entire surface of the nose gripping members are provided witha covering or lining of material which upon the application of heatchanges from a hard into a plastic or semi-fused state.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I am enabled to provide nosepads for eyeglasses in which the bearing surfaces are perfectly smoothand uninterrupted by the projecting ends of rivets or any other metallicportion;

I claim i l. The process of manufacturing pads for eyeglasses whichconsists in heating material employed to formthe pad and therebyrendering the same plastic and forming and shaping the same into a padand thereafter uniting such plastic pad to a metallic backing thereforby such pad together. i

2. The process of manufacturing pads for eyeglasses which consists inmolding the said pads while the material thereof is in a plastic stateto the shape desired and forming thereon a projection and thereafterwhile the material of said'pad is in a plastic state inserting the saidprojection into a hole formed in a shank or post to which it is desiredto secure the said pad and pressing the said shank andplastic materialtogether thereby causing the material of the said projection to flowlaterally in the said hole to entirely fill the same.

3. The process of manufacturing pads for eyeglasses which consists inapplying heat to a pad material and shaping the same as desired andforming a projection thereon, also providing an undercut opening in ashank or stud and inserting the projection of the said pad while in aplastic state into the pressing such backing and said hole and causingthe material of said projection to flow laterally to fill the entirespace of the hole in said shank whereby the said shank and pad membersare secured together,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have hereuntoset my hand and seal this 3 day of September, A. D.

' WAYNE S. SEARLES. In the presence of'- HARRY A. TOWNLEY, ALFRED M.KNIGHT.

